Mood, tense, and aspect 423

to take the revolver and insisted that I be on the road. I began to go out every time, but the revolver I still turned over to Zadorov, in order not to deprive him of the well-deserved pleasure.

When our horse Malysh would appear, we greeted him with a cry: -- Halt! Hands up!

In Russian, explicitly iterative situations are almost always expressed by the imperfective. Only rarely can one find examples of perfectives used in specialized contexts, notably in the protasis of past general (iterative) conditionals, to emphasize that an achieved result is critical to the subsequent (iterative) apodosis.35

When the series is quite finite -- ldƒ hƒpf ‘two times’, y†crjkmrj hƒp ‘several times’ -- it can be understood as a single event, and the perfective is more usual than the imperfective:

[156]Jy tt djctvm hfp hfpj,hfk<pf> b cj,hfk<pf> .

He disassembled and reassembled it eight times.

6.5.8 The future context: perfective and imperfective

Both the periphrastic future of imperfectives and the present-tense form of perfectives refer to events that lie in the future (are known by divination) from the here and now of speech. The two aspects retain their usual values. Perfective present-tense forms report events that are predicted (divined) to be completed and lead to results ([157]):

[157]-- Ds <ju pyftn xnj yflevfkb! -- djcrkbryekf jyf.

--Jnghfdbvcz<pf prs> dldjtv gentitcndjdfnm -- xnj nen nfrjuj?

--Ns pyftim, xtv rjyxbncz<pf prs> dfit gentitcndbt?

--Xtv rjyxbncz<pf prs> ?! Z yfgbie<pf prs> [elj;tcndtyyst jxthrb, Kzkz cjxbybn<pf prs> cnb[b.

--Эnj rjyxbncz<pf prs> ht,tyjxrjv!

--God only knows what you have thought up! -- she exclaimed.

--We’ll head off together to travel -- what’s wrong with that?

--Do you know what your trip will end in?

--What it will end in?! I’ll write some sketches, Lialia will compose poems.

--It will end with a baby!

Imperfective futures refer to events that are not anticipated to be definitively completed. They may refer to projected habits ([158]) or iterative (or extended) activities ([159]):

35 Bondarko 1971.

424A Reference Grammar of Russian

[158]Z e;t j, эnjv gbcfk b ,ele<fut> gbcfnm<if> .

I have already written about that, and I will write again.

[159]Vs yfxfkb hfphf,fnsdfnm vfhihen. Lj Yb;ytuj Yjdujhjlf gjtpljv. Z nfv gj,sdfk ldf ujlf njve yfpfl, ,ele<fut> tq gjrfpsdfnm<if> ljcnjghbvtxfntkmyjcnb, gjnjv gj ;tktpyjq ljhjut jnghfdbvcz<pf prs> d vfksq ujhjljr Ctvtyjd.

We started to plan our trip. By train to Nizhnyi Novgorod. I had been there two years ago, I would show her the sights, then by train we’ll make for the town of Semenov.

An imperfective future can project the existence of an activity or attempted activity ([160--61]); the fact of existence is more important than the possible completion or results.

[160]Yt ,ele<fut> gthtcrfpsdfnm<if> dct nhtdjkytybz.

I will not [engage in an attempt to] recount all the troubles.

[161]Jy gthtukzyekcz c lheubv xtrbcnjv b j,(zdbk yfv, xnj jyb ,elen<fut> ghjbpdjlbnm<if> j,scr.

He exchanged glances with another Chekist and informed us that they would undertake a search.

[162]D ntjhbb ghtlgjkfufkjcm, xnj dct tuj bpj,htntybz ghjbpdtlen<pf prs> gjlkbyye/ htdjk/wb/ d vtkbjhfwbb.

In theory, his inventions would bring about a true revolution in land reclamation.

A perfective, in contrast, predicts a future completed event and result ([162]). In sum, in the future temporal plane, perfective and imperfective maintain

their values: a perfective history is one that is anticipated to come to fruition, an imperfective history is one that will be incomplete, because it reports a habit or the existence of an (attempted) activity.

6.5.9 Exemplary potential context: perfective

While the morphological present-tense forms of perfective verbs are used most naturally to report events that are predicted to occur and be completed on some future occasion, the perfective present is used for another important function. The perfective can present a single, potential occasion as exemplary of an open-ended series of possible occasions.36 An exemplary use of the exemplary perfective can be found in Turgenev’s A Hunter’s Sketches. The device fits perfectly the descent of the bemused urbane -- but admiring -- observer into the world of provincial life: Lfqnt vyt here, k/,tpysq xbnfntkm, b gjtltvnt dvtcnt cj vyjq

‘Give me your hand, dear reader, and come travel together with me’. Turgenev’s narrator describes his heroine Tatiana Borisovna in these terms:

36 See in general Panzer 1963, Rathmayr 1976.

Mood, tense, and aspect 425

[163]Crjkmrj k/ltq gjdthbkb tq cdjb ljvfiybt, pfleitdyst nfqys, gkfrfkb e ytq yf herf[! <sdfkj, czltn<pf prs> jyf ghjnbd ujcnz, j,jghtncz<pf prs> nb[jymrj yf kjrjnm b c nfrbv exfcnbtv cvjnhbn<if prs> tve d ukfpf, nfr lhe;tk/,yj eks,ftncz<if prs> , xnj ujcn/ ytdjkmyj d ujkjde ghbltn<pf prs> vsckm: ≤Rfrfz ;t ns ckfdyfz ;tyobyf, Nfnmzyf <jhbcjdyf! Lfq-rf z nt,t hfccrf;e, xnj e vtyz yf cthlwt≥.

How many people have imparted their domestic, innermost secrets, have cried in her arms. It would happen, she’ll sit opposite a guest, she’ll lean quietly on her elbow and with such sympathy looks him in the eyes, she smiles in such a friendly fashion, that the guest will inadvertently have the thought, “What a wonderful woman you are, Tatiana Borisovna! Maybe I’ll just tell you what’s in my heart.”

The exemplary use of the present-tense perfective presumes a background of possible repeated occasions, here signaled overtly by the verbal particle ,sdƒkj ‘used to happen’. Once the background of repeated occasions is established, present-tense perfectives (cz´ltn ‘will sit’, j,jgh=ncz ‘will lean’, ghbl=n ‘will come’) present a recurring situation not as a regular habit, but as potential: given the right conditions, a certain sequence of events may arise. (Imperfectives used in the midst of an exemplary context, such as cvj´nhbn ‘looks’, eks,ƒtncz ‘looks’, report open-ended processes concurrent with one of the potential occasions.) The exemplary perfective becomes for Turgenev the perfect metaphor for the occasional and unanticipated against the backdrop of a landscape of tedium. In the twentieth century, the device receded, and it is now thought quaint.

Some other uses of perfectives also seem motivated by the function of selecting a single occasion as exemplary of a larger set. Past perfectives can be used with exemplary force in definitional relative clauses of the type n†, rnj´ . . . In [164], the history of one abstract individual stands for the set of possible individuals.

[164]Vtcnysvb cxbnfkbcm nt, rnj ghbt[fk<pf pst> c/lf gjckt djqys. Anyone who had come here since the war was considered to be a local.

In a similar vein, in clauses embedded under elfdƒkjcm ‘used to be successful’ with iterative force, an imperfective infinitive emphasizes a regular habit ([181]), while the perfective describes the type of event that could, on occasion, occur -- the exemplary sense ([182]). These uses of the perfectives (not only present-tense forms) demonstrate that exemplariness is one of the readings that a perfective can have, at least in certain contexts.

Two additional minor functions of the perfective present are a present perfective of narrative, found in restricted styles (folk texts, in byliny or, as late as the nineteenth century, in the narrative stage directions of folk drama):37

37 Panzer 1963:88, from Berkov 1953:168.

426A Reference Grammar of Russian

[165]Nen ctqxfc d ytuj dscnhtk lflen<pf prs> , jy egfltn<pf prs> , f tuj ;tyf yfxytn<pf prs> djgbnm gj ytv: <. . .>

Just then they will shoot him, he’ll fall, and his wife’ll begin to wail over him:

<. . .>

Related is the folk use of the perfective present with rfr to report an event unexpected in the narrative ([166]) or with negation to report the failure of an anticipated event ([167]):38

[166]Kbcf gjrhenbkfcm, gjrhenbkfcm, b ujdjhbn: <. . .> Njulf cjkjdeirf rfr pfgjtn<pf prs> , rfr pfcdbotn<pf prs> , nfr kbcf b eib hfpdtcbkf.

The fox turned around, turned around, and says: <. . .> Then the nightingale sings so, whistles so, that the fox dropped her ears.

[167]Jy cjuyekcz<pf pst> , cblbn<if prs> yf rjpkf[ b yt itdtkmytncz<pf prs> . He bent over, sits on the sawhorses and he won’t move.

6.5.10 Infinitive contexts: perfective and imperfective

The aspect of an infinitive depends to a large extent on the predicate on which the infinitive depends.39 (Infinitives in the free infinitive construction have the same aspect usage as infinitives attached to modal governing predicates such as yƒlj ‘be necessary’.)

At one extreme are phasals: yfxƒnm/yfxbyƒnm ‘begin’, ghjljk;ƒnm ‘continue’, rj´yxbnm/rjyxƒnm ‘end, finish’, gthtcnƒnm/gthtcnfdƒnm ‘cease’. They govern only the imperfective: z {yfxfk gthtcnfk} pf[jlbnm<if> r ytq ‘I {began stopped} dropping in to see her’. K/,∫nm\gjk/,∫nm ‘love’ (also ghbdßryenm/ghbdsrƒnm ‘become accustomed to’, jndßryenm/jndsrƒnm ‘lose the habit of’) implies that the dependent predicate is a habit, and therefore imperfective ([168]), except for quantizing perfectives ([169--70]):

[168]Jyf k/,bn pf,fdkznmcz<if> buheirfvb. She likes to amuse herself with toys.

[169]Jy k/,bk gjpf,fdbnm<pf> yfhjl ienrjq.

He used to love to amuse the people now and then with a joke.

[170]K/,bk z pf,htcnb<pf> d rfhtnysq cfhfq.

I loved to wander off into the carriage barn.

At the opposite extreme are verbs of occasion. Elƒcnmcz ‘be successful’ implies success, therefore perfective in a dependent infinitive:

38 [166], [167] cited by Panzer 1963:73. This usage continues to show up in literary texts through the beginning of the nineteenth century, as an imitation of folk style, for example, in Pushkin’s “Ruslan i Liudmila,” “Poltava,” or “Evlega.” The negative usage is termed “the present of futile expectation” by Zalizniak (1995:159).

39 Based on Fielder 1983; on aspect and modals, see Rappaport 1985.

Mood, tense, and aspect 427

[171]Vyt elfkjcm<pf> j,hfnbnmcz<pf> r jnrhsnjve afqke cnfnbcnbrb c gjvjom/

Notepad b crjgbhjdfnm ;ehyfk, bcgjkmpez Windows Explorer.

I managed to turn to an open statistics file with the help of Notepad and copy the journal, using Windows Explorer.

[172]Vyt elfkjcm k/,bnm<if> , cvtznmcz<if> . I have managed to love, to laugh.

As in [172], imperfectives are possible in contexts that list a series of activities. Ghbqn∫cm/ghb[jl∫nmcz ‘have occasion to’ is similar, but the implicature of success is weaker. When a single occasion arises, that event is often a completed, perfective, event ([173]). Sometimes what arises is the necessity of engaging in an activity, implying imperfective ([174]).

[173]Vyt ghbikjcm<pf> r ytve j,hfnbnmcz<pf> pf cjdtnjv. I had to turn to him for advice.

[174]D bnjut tq ghbikjcm<pf> j,hfofnmcz<if> pf gjvjom/ r cgtwbfkbcne. In the end she had to try turning to a specialist for help.

In other contexts in which infinitives are used, the event described by the infinitive is a potential rather than an actual event. It is striven for (with volitive verbs such as cnhtv∫nmcz ‘strive for’), imposed or requested (with m a n d verbs such as lƒnm/lfdƒnm ‘let, allow’, gjpdj´kbnm/gjpdjkz´nm ‘allow’, ghjc∫nm\gjghjc∫nm

‘ask’), expected or made possible by universal authority (yƒlj ‘be necessary’, ytkmpz´ ‘be impossible’, vj´;yj ‘be possible’), or simply possible (vj´xm ‘be able, can, be possible’). As a rule, the potential event is a single potential event, and this context usually calls for the perfective aspect in the infinitive. For example, in [175], what is at issue is the possibility of making a successful purchase on a possible occasion, hence perfective:

[175]Rhtcnmzyt zdbkbcm c ;fkj,jq, xnj ybrfrb[ vfnthbq b ujnjdjuj gkfnmz regbnm<pf> ytkmpz.

The peasants came with the complaint that it was impossible to buy any dry goods or ready-made dress.

An imperfective is used if the situation under the force of modality is a habit ([176]),

[176]Ytkmpz nfr ytyjhvfkmyj djcgbnsdfnm<if> csyf. It is not right to raise one’s son so abnormally.

Or if the situation is viewed as an activity -- if what is required (possible, striven for, expected, etc.) is not a definitive change but an attempt, the mere existence of some activity that bears a certain name ([177--78]):

428A Reference Grammar of Russian

[177]Ytkmpz pltcm gtht[jlbnm<if> ekbwe.

One should not try [=it is not permitted] to cross the street here.

[178]Rjulf z cbltkf yf ,thtue, gjljitk Vfyltkminfv b cjj,obk, xnj yflj etp;fnm<if> , nfr rfr djrheu yfxfkfcm [jkthf.

As I was sitting on the shore, up walked Mandelshtam and announced that what we must do is leave, since cholera had broken out.

More than other modals, vj´xm is concerned with whether a certain activity could exist at all; it allows imperfective infinitives freely.

The matrix context colors expectations about the event expressed by the infinitive. With ghbqn∫cm/ghb[jl∫nmcz ‘have occasion to’, when the matrix occasion is iterated, then so is the dependent event. Accordingly, it is often expressed as an imperfective:

[179]-- Xfcnj ghb[jlbkjcm<if> cnfkrbdfnmcz<if> d ;bpyb c gjkbnbrfvb? -- Have you often had occasion to run up against politics?

[180]Relf Dfv ghb[jlbkjcm<if> j,hfofnmcz<if> pf rdfkbabwbhjdfyyjq /hblbxtcrjq gjvjom/?

Where have you had occasion to turn for qualified legal aid?

With elƒnmcz/elfdƒnmcz, the infinitive can be imperfective if the context stresses habit:

[181]Cgecnz xtnsht vtczwf gjckt lt,/nf vjkjlsv k/lzv elfdfkjcm<if> ghjlfdfnm<if> gj ldflwfnm l;tvgthjd d ytltk/.

Four months after their debut, the young people used to manage to sell twenty jumpers per week.

[182]Cxbnfkjcm elfxtq, tckb elfdfkjcm<if> ghjlfnm<pf> ytcrjkmrj rjgbq d vtczw.

It was considered an accomplishment when they were able to sell several copies in a month.

If the sense of success on a potential, exemplary occasion outranks habit, the perfective is used with elfdƒnmcz ([182]). Similarly, if permission is granted (lƒnm/lfdƒnm, gjpdj´kbnm/gjpdjkz´nm), the performance of the dependent event normally follows. Hence an imperfective is natural for multiple occasions of permission.

[183]D ctvmt yfvtnbkcz rhbpbc. Z xfcnj gjpdjkzk ct,t jcnfdkznm<if> ctvm/ b ghtlfdfkcz<if> hfpkbxysv ve;crbv hfpdktxtybzv.

In our family a crisis arose. I often allowed myself to abandon the family and turn to various male diversions.